


Christmas Angel

by Jacie



Category: NCIS
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Gift Giving, Holidays, Horses, Ice Skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 17:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8809885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacie/pseuds/Jacie
Summary: Tony and Tim want to make Ellie's Christmas a special one.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my NCIS SeSa story. That's how the day started out. As usual, my muse is stalling and decided it wanted to write something else instead. How about a Christmas story for the Holiday Challenge one horse open sleigh (or carriage) theme? So, I started writing this at noon and this story happened. I took a break at two for lunch. Then did a quick proofread, and here it is. 
> 
> Written for the Happy Holidays Challenge hosted at: http://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/
> 
> Disclaimer: Don’t know them. It’s not true. I made it all up.

Tony and Tim did their best to keep Ellie’s spirit up, but it was her first Christmas after her divorce. The pair had engaged Abby’s help to decorate their office space. It was now an odd mix of sparkle, Santas and skulls. Ellie thanked them, appreciating the gesture.

“Are you guys going to Ducky’s dinner?” Ellie asked as she held the invitation in her hand.

“Of course,” said Tim. “What’s a holiday without family? And our team is family.”

“Are you planning to go back to Oklahoma?” Tony asked.

Ellie set the invitation aside, and dug into her bag of Cheetos. “No. We’re working, and I was afraid I would bring things down. Things have changed so much.”

“I can pick you up, if you want,” Tim offered. “For dinner at Ducky’s.”

“Yeah, I’ve invited Timmy to stay over at my place. We’re going to stay up and wait for Santa to stop by. I’m all stocked up on milk and cookies,” said Tony.

“Really?” Ellie asked. “You two are spending the night together?”

“It’s become sort of a holiday tradition.”

Tim smiled at the memories. “We even put up stockings. Tony has a tree and a fireplace.”

“And I’ve become somewhat of an expert cocoa maker,” Tony added.

“Can I get in on this?” she asked. “Please?”

Raising his eyebrows, Tony asked, “You want to stay at my place. With me and Tim?”

“What’s the big deal? I grew up with three brothers. We used to hang out all the time.”

“Sure. Come on over,” said Tony. “We watch a couple movies and turn the thermostat down so we can snuggle up in blankets like when we were kids.”

“It actually sounds like fun!”

~*~*~*~

The team was used to Gibbs disappearing, although it was usually in the evenings and often to his basement. Tony had a knack for finding him. There was no need to knock, as Gibbs’ door never seemed to be locked.

Tony descended the familiar steps to find Gibbs working on an assortment of wooden toys. He picked up train car, then an airplane. He smiled as the propeller turned easily when he twirled it. 

“Cool stuff, Boss.”

Gibbs looked through his protective goggles and passed a pair to Tony. “You have your choice, sandpaper or paint.”

“It looks like Santa’s toy shop down here.”

“Yeah, and you’re my head elf. Get to work.”

“I came to talk.”

“I’ve seen you work before, DiNozzo. I am fully confident that you can work and talk at the same time.”

Tony nodded and picked up one of the wooden toys and began sanding it smooth. “Tim and I want to make this Christmas special for Ellie. I know she’s depressed after going through the divorce. She doesn’t even want to go home to her family, because she’s afraid she’ll ruin their holiday.”

“She’s a strong woman. She’s going to be fine.”

“I know. But we care about her and want to do something that will make her happy.”

“Work makes me happy. You guys are welcome to come over and help with the toys any time you like.”

“Yeah, we can do that. But I’m not sure that’s going to do the trick to get Bishop out of this holiday funk she’s in.”

“You help me with the toys, and I will take care of making sure Ellie is happy and enjoys the holidays.”

Tony stopped sanding and looked over to Gibbs. “You can do that?”

“Keep working. And of course. I’m the boss, right? I’ll fix it. I’m good at fixing things.”

“Okay,” said Tony as he returned to his work.

~*~*~*~

On Christmas Eve Tim and Ellie spent the night with Tony. They dragged their sleeping bags onto the floor in front of the fire, watched _It’s A Wonderful Life_ and a couple other movies, and munched on popcorn while they drank their hot chocolate.

“I love your tree,” Ellie said.

“Thanks. It’s not real, of course. It takes up way too much of my storage space, but it reminds me of my mom. She and I would decorate the tree together. She would tell me the stories behind each ornament. They’re all special. Each one.”

“That’s great. It’s nice that you have good memories of your mom. What about you, Tim? Any special holiday traditions?”

“Not so much. We moved a lot. Sarah and I would have a blast opening gifts, but knew most of them would have to be given away when we moved.”

“Is Sarah coming to Ducky’s?”

“No, she’s visiting mom.”

Ellie sipped at her cocoa. “So the team really is like family. Ducky’s mother is gone, Abby’s brother is in another state, Gibbs’ father is gone. And both of you, your relatives are out of town. It’s all kind of sad.”

“Did you not watch _It’s A Wonderful Life_?” Tony asked. “Okay, let me spell it out for you. You mean something to every life you touch. When one person dies, that death affects all those around them. Not only family, but friends and co-workers. To take it a step further, we don’t choose our families, but we do get to choose our friends.”

“But we don’t get to choose our co-workers,” said Ellie.

“Gibbs chose us,” Tim said. “He worked with Tony on a case in Baltimore, then recruited him for NCIS. I was stationed in Norfolk, but worked with the team on a case. After that, Gibbs would call me to help out and then pulled some strings to get me permanently assigned to his team.”

Tony returned from the kitchen to refill everyone’s cocoa. “And you, Miss Bishop, Gibbs chose you, too. You may have applied to NCIS years ago, but it was Leroy Jethro Gibbs who pulled the strings to get you assigned to his team. We’re a team because Gibbs made us a team And this team is a family.”

Ellie nodded. “I appreciate you inviting me over tonight. This is so much more fun that sitting alone in my apartment.”

“You can take the bed if you want to,” offered Tony. “I changed the sheets, and Tim and I sleep out here anyway.”

“No way! I am loving this. It reminds me of hanging out with my brothers when we were kids. Thank you, both. I mean that. You really do make me feel like family.”

~*~*~*~

On Christmas morning, the trio ate a breakfast of eggs, bacon and pasties, then sat on the floor opening their stockings. Tim always filled Tony’s and Tony filled Tim’s. They had both bought things for Ellie’s stocking. Nothing expensive. Mostly fruits, nuts and candy.

The guys had bought earrings and a matching necklace for Ellie’s stocking. She marveled over their beauty and put them on immediately. 

“And that isn’t all,” Tony announced as he gathered up three larger packages from underneath the tree, passing one each to Tim and Ellie, and holding one for himself. He watched as Tim and Ellie tore into their packages before opening his own.

“This is an elf costume,” said Ellie as she held hers up.

“Yes, it is,” Tony agreed.

Tim inspected his as well. “Tony?” 

“Time to suit up my little elves. Santa will be here soon.”

Tim and Ellie decided to play along and soon all three of them were laughing as they poked fun of each other. 

Tony grabbed his keys, wallet and his coat as he headed toward the door. “Let’s go, we don’t want to be late.”

“Late?” asked Ellie. “Late for what?”

“You will see,” said Tony as he held the door open.

~*~*~*~

Snow swirled around them as they stood outside Tony’s apartment building. Each of them wore gloves, scarves, heavy winter coats and boots.

“Tony, what are we doing?” Tim whined as he tried to keep warm.

“Come on, Tiny Tim. Where’s your holiday spirit?”

“It’s just about frozen.”

“Wait for it. Wait for it.” Tony stalled as he glanced down the street. “Something great is coming.”

Ellie and Tim both stared at Tony. Standing on the curb in the freezing cold while dressed as elves was not their idea of fun.

“Let’s all sing. It’ll help keep us warm,” Tony offered. “ _Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane_ , everybody sing. Come on, it’ll warm you up.”

“So will going back inside the building,” said Tim.

“Wait. Hear that? Listen,” Tony urged.

Ellie turned her head slightly and listened. “Bells?”

“That’s Chistmassy, right? Like Jingle Bells. Sing with me Bishop. _Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way_.”

“When I was a kid we had a cart, but for Christmas, we would decorate it and call it a sleigh. There usually wasn’t enough snow for a sleigh where we lived, so Dad would hitch up this old horse we had and we’d go on a carriage ride. We would huddle under a ton of blankets to stay warm. If it was cold enough, we’d go ice skating, too. I loved that.”

Just then, the bell sound grew louder and a tall gray horse pulling a carriage came around the corner. Two plush reindeer antlers had been attached to the bridle of the harness, and a puffy red nose was attached to the nosepiece.

Driving the carriage was a man dressed as Santa Claus. He pulled the carriage to a stop right in front of Tim, Ellie and Tony. “Alright my merry elves, climb aboard.”

“Gibbs?” Ellie asked. “Is that you playing Kris Kringle?”

“Get your butt in the carriage, Bishop. We have a schedule to keep.”

Tim, Ellie and Tony scrambled into the carriage and were happy to pull heavy blankets across their laps. Tim and Ellie shared the seat, while Tony sat next to Gibbs, after grinning at them and explaining that he was the senior field elf.

Gibbs snapped the reins across the horse’s back and the carriage slowly pulled away from the curb. After a couple minutes, Gibbs moved the horse into a trot.

“Is this just like when you were a kid?” Tim asked.

“It’s a little different. I grew up on a ranch, so there weren’t so many buildings on our Christmas rides. But I love this. It’s great.”

Gibbs stuck to the lesser traveled roads as much as he could, and alternated the pace between a walk and a trot. 

Just over an hour later, Gibbs handed the reins to Tony. “Just keep her steady,” he said. Pulling out his cell phone, he told someone they were two blocks away. After slipping his phone back into his pocket, he took the reins back from Tony.

Minutes later, they pulled up to a church. About forty-five children stood outside on the steps watching as Gibbs pulled the carriage to a stop.

Standing up in the driver’s seat, he did his best belly laugh. “Ho ho ho and Merry Christmas,” he said as he waved to the children.

Many of them squealed with glee and ran up to the carriage calling out, “Santa, Santa.”

One of the women watching the kids herded them back from the street. As Tim, Ellie and Tony jumped down from the carriage, Gibbs handed them each a large sack filled with wrapped gifts, taking the last one for himself. A young man stood with the horse and nodded to Gibbs.

“Come on my elves, we have children waiting for toys.”

“What about him?” Ellie asked, nodding to the young man.

“He’s my special elf who is going to feed the horse while we’re inside.”

“Oh. What’s his name?”

“Kendall.”

“Does the horse have a name?”

“Sure. That’s Angel.”

Ellie smiled. “That’s the perfect name for a Christmas horse.”

“She’s a retired police horse.”

“Oh?”

“On loan from a friend.”

The quartet hauled the sacks into the building. The church had set up a large throne-like Santa chair for Gibbs. The large sacks were set down beside it as Gibbs took his seat.

Nearby tables were full of plates and glasses, where the children had obviously had a Christmas breakfast.

Gibbs turned to his elves, “Just start handing me packages, one at a time.”

Tony handed over the first package. Gibbs took the wrapped gift and read the tag aloud. “Sally Walker, Sally come on up.”

A small blonde haired girl jumped up and nearly ran to the chair where Gibbs lifted her up into his lap. There was a woman taking photos as Gibbs asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Amongst her requests for new clothes and Barbie dolls, she’d asked for a unicorn. When she unwrapped her gift, her eyes brightened to find a hand-carved unicorn looking back at her. 

“Thank you, Santa!” she said, excitedly, as she held her gift for others to admire.

One by one, the gifts were distributed. Each child received four gifts. Not only were their hand-carved gifts that Gibbs had made, but there were clothes, pajamas, robes, slippers and store-bought toys.

After they emptied the sacks, the children brought forth plates of cookies and glasses of milk for Santa and his elves. The children had milk and cookies, too, as they sat on the floor talking excitedly about the gifts they had received. The women passed out stockings to each of the children, who spilled out the contents to find small games and toys along with chocolate, apples and oranges.

The quartet took the empty sacks back out to the carriage. 

“That was a lot of fun!” Ellie declared.

“It was supposed to be,” said Gibbs. “Especially for the kids. They’re all foster kids. The church gets wish lists from the kids, then collects gifts and hosts this party for them on Christmas every year.”

“That’s so awesome!”

“Thanks, Kendall,” Gibbs said to the young man who had watched the horse and carriage for them. “Climb aboard.”

“What?” the young man asked.

“Special gift for Santa’s helpers.”

Kendall was a thin, brown-haired teenager. His coat looked warm enough, but his worn mittens were thin and appeared to be too small for his hands. He easily scrambled into the back, sitting on the seat with Ellie and Tim. 

“There are a couple gifts under the seat for you.”

Kendall smiled. “I was hoping I wouldn’t miss out.”

Ellie dug under the seat, found the other sack and handed it to Kendall. 

Gibbs drove the carriage into a nearby park, then pulled it over. “Go ahead, son. Let’s see what you got.”

Kendall’s face had become rosy from the chill of the wind against his face. He nodded to Gibbs and began to open his gifts. The first was a notebook and a set of inexpensive pens. Next was a pair of insulated gloves with a scarf, then a warm down vest.

“Wow, I can really use these,” he said, as he wasted no time putting on the vest before replacing his coat over it. He’d taken off the thin mittens he’d had before and replaced them with the thick, insulated gloves he’d received, then he wrapped the wool scarf around his neck. “Thanks, Gibbs. These are awesome.”

“Hey! It’s Santa today.”

Kendall laughed easily. “Sorry. Thank you, Santa.”

“I think there should be a more gifts down there for you. Check under the other seat.”

Kendall bent over and pulled out a hand-carved hockey stick and another box. A tear slipped from his eye as he held onto the stick tightly. After opening the final box, he pulled out a pair of ice skates.

“Do you skate?” Ellie asked.

Kendall nodded, then spoke softly. “I used to play hockey. Before. My dad was killed serving our country and my mom died from cancer about a year later. The state put me into the foster program, but we don’t get much. The foster families don’t really get paid enough to feed and clothe us. I thought I’d never get to skate again. Thank you, Gibbs. Santa. This is the best gift ever.”

Gibbs smiled. “I’m glad we could get these for you.”

Again he slapped the reins against Angel’s back and the gray horse took off at a brisk trot. The snow continued to swirl gently around them as the bells on Angel’s harness rang cheerily.

Another mile into the park, Gibbs pulled the carriage over in front of an outside skating rink. “And this is my reward for my merry helpers,” he announced.

Several other skaters were on the ice, while others huddled around heaters on the sidelines. 

“Go on,” Gibbs urged. “It’s all paid for. Go enjoy yourselves.”

Tony leapt out of the carriage, then helped Ellie down. Kendall and Tim followed. 

Gibbs sat in the carriage as he watched Kendall skate with his team. He laughed at the spills and smiled when Kendall displayed his advanced skating skills. Tony bought everyone hot chocolate and even brought a cup out for Gibbs.

“This was nice, Boss. Ellie looks happy. She was telling me when she was a kid that her father would take them out in a horse-drawn carriage and sometimes they’d go ice skating if it was cold enough. Looks like you did a little research.”

“All it took was a call to her mother.”

Tony sat with Gibbs and watched the other three skate for another hour.

~*~*~*~

Once they dropped Kendall off back at the church, Gibbs drove them back to Tony’s apartment building. Tim and Tony jumped out of the carriage. Ellie climbed into the front seat beside Gibbs.

“Can I have one more Christmas wish, Santa?” she asked.

“What’s that?”

“I had a horse when I was younger. I miss him. I was wondering if I could go back to the stable with you and help put Angel away. I can brush her down.”

“Yeah, sure.” Turning back to Tim and Tony, he said, “I’ll bring her back when we’re done putting the horse away.

It took another thirty minutes to get to the stables, and Ellie enjoyed every minute of the carriage ride.

“Even though it’s DC, it reminds me of home.”

“It is your home,” said Gibbs. “Not where you grew up, but it’s where you live.”

“I never knew there was a stable around here.”

“Former cop now runs the carriage horses out of here. His family has a farm outside of town with pastures, but this is where they run the carriages from.”

“Maybe we’ll see Angel around town.”

“She’s special. He only brings her in for special occasions.”

“Like when you play Santa Claus?”

“Exactly. She is semi-retired and spends most of her days with his family.”

“That’s nice.” Sidling closer to Gibbs, Ellie threaded her arm through his and leaned on his shoulder. “This feels like family. I really appreciate all everyone has done to make this Christmas a happy one.”

As Gibbs pulled the carriage up to an old warehouse building, a gray-haired man stepped over and patted Angel’s neck. “How’d she do today, Gibbs?”

“She was an Angel, Matt.”

“Always good to hear,” he said, holding the horse as Gibbs and Ellie got out of the carriage.

“Bishop here wanted to help put Angel away for the night.”

“Great! There is always a lot of work around here, and never enough hands.”

Ellie took hold of Angel’s reins. “I grew up on a ranch. If you point me to her stall, I’d love to brush her down.”

“Sure. It’s the third one on the left. Has her name on it.”

Gibbs and Matt drank coffee and watched as Ellie unharnessed Angel, brushed her down and put her back into her stall.

“You did great,” Matt said. “If you didn’t work for Gibbs, I’d offer you a job.”

“Have you ever considered being a foster parent?” Ellie asked.

Gibbs and Matt raised their eyebrows. 

Ellie was bouncing with excitement. “Kendall! He said he loves horses. His grandparents had a farm where he stayed in the summers until they passed away. He would love this!”

Matt scratched his head as he considered Ellie’s idea.

“You said you could use extra hands. He’s a strong young man. I’m sure he could help you out a lot.”

“My wife gets sadder every time another one of our kids goes off to college. We certainly have enough room. I’ll talk it over with her. Might not be a bad idea at all. I never even thought of it, but I sure could use some help.”

“And Kendall could sure use a home. A family.”

~*~*~*~

Still dressed as an elf, Ellie climbed into the seat of Gibbs’ pickup truck.

“Did you set me up, Gibbs?”

“Set you up?”

“You wanted me to suggest that Matt take Kendall into his home.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Gibbs. “I didn’t even expect you to come to the stable. I thought you’d get out at Tony’s place.”

“You called my mom, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“She told you about the ice skating, and the carriage rides, and how I would put the horse away afterward and would sit in the stable talking to my dad. You knew I would want to come to the stable.”

“Merry Christmas, Bishop.”

10 Dec 2016  
© 2016 by Jacie


End file.
